A Metroid on the Brain is Worth Two in the Tube
by Zack Gregson
Summary: Far away in another universe, there lies an Earth where humans and anthros struggle to coexist together in tolerance. A typical setting for a typical story. But for one such creature, an anthro velociraptor called James Campbell, things become extraordinary the day he is kidnapped for an experiment, and sent away to another world...to a planet called Zebes.
1. Chapter 1 - The Raptor Has Landed

In another time, in another future, on another Earth, like many other stories would begin, there was an experiment. An experiment that would cause the smallest repercussions in the world it was in, and would soon cause even greater ones in the worlds beyond. On some other Earth, in a year unmarked within the 21st century, mankind finally reached its limit, and initiated the nuclear apocalypse. The Human Holocaust. But not all of humanity had been wiped out within its own rage and violence. Life would always spring anew.

For whatever reason, the remains of man would survive and rebuild. And yet, where mankind saw a chance to rebuild, one unknown group saw a chance to resculpt. 2102 AD/CE, the year of the Circe Project. An experimental process, shrouded in mystery to almost religious levels of faith, as the day the world became occupied with anthropomorphic creatures. Every creature imaginable that wasn't a bird, rodent or fish, was born anew to spread across the world. Even some ancient creatures had been reborn, bizarrely so.

But of course, wars would happen. Tribes would be formed, cities would be rebuilt as a new racial conflict emerged. Whereas man had finally managed to embrace their own species, they would find themselves conflicted towards every other. Some were loved, others reviled, nations reformed from the old world's history and technology was regathered to create a new era, a schizophrenic technological realm that was both old and new.

But all this is just backstory for the main course of this chronicle. The experiment. The experiment that would change worlds in the smallest of ways, worlds that most of his time would never even know of or imagine, as far as he knew at least. This experiment was known as James Campbell.

A young anthro velociraptor, 22 years old, hurrying through the streets of Chicago, in the year 3513 AD/CE of his world. Brown scaled skin covered only by jeans, green fierce eyes upon a snout that sneered with rage and frustration. His body was only blemished by the strange purple horizontal marks, two on the nose, and the rest down his back to his tail. Despite his attempts to run, he was caught by his assailants, members of a paramilitary organisation known as the Advanced Research Military Enterprises. Chicago residents knew when you said "the A.R.M.E" that trouble was afoot.

He was captured for reasons unknown, and experimented for even less. A project he knew not the name of, beneath two humans he had never seen before. A tall blonde short-haired general of utmost perfection and a green suit, and a wiry trembling anxious scientist with long brown hair. Both of them looked down upon James Campbell, after a lengthly agonising operation that involved refitting his entire body with a whole new set of veins, built to carry nanobots throughout his entire system. Even his brain wasn't the same anymore with a CPU emulator now straddling both hemispheres.

A perfect fighting machine, was the idea. A military masterpiece capable of creating any weapon, and any ammunition required, from its bare hands by the power of nanos. With millions of little machines able to construct something with the right schematic and energy process, there would never be need for one single soldier again, a literal walking armoury full on its own, complete with geosynchronous teleportational abilities for the most brutal of guerilla tactics. But like all wild schemes, something was bound to go wrong.

**And here was the point where things went wrong.**

With one flick of a switch, they had overlooked a crucial flaw in the experimental plan. The wires connecting to the raptor's head, plugged into his brain, were not linked up to the military computer that held every single blueprint and schematic of every weapon currently available. Instead, it was linked up to a nearby computer, a colourful little emulator that laid tucked into the corner of the neuroscientist's lab.

The scientist regretted the fact he was sleep-deprived by staying up all night, thereby causing the wire mixup. The general regretted the fact that his top scientist was a fanatical gamer. To the point of having an entire computer full of them from far back in the old world of humanity. James Campbell's mind exploded into a galaxy of pixels, none of which he understood or recognised. Madness that grew from bit to bit, strange blue blurs and rusted monsters wielding blades of judgement.

Naturally it was all a blur for young James the moment he found some wild psychotic strength from whatever the nanos gave him, not that he ever knew there were any inside of him. The scientists he slaughtered on the way out of a 30-story window didn't have time to tell him. His last week on his Earth, was to be spent with Sarah King, an anthro dolphin bartender who had adopted him unofficially back when James was 14. She wasn't the best mother, considering she was the leader of a shadow criminal organisation known as The Fishnet in Chicago, operating out of a bar in Canaryville.

But he loved her dearly, and she loved him in turn like a son, even in her old age somewhere around her mid-40s. She knew that James was now a fugitive, and did everything she could to hide him away from the A.R.M.E now hunting down for him. They didn't want to lose their chance to offer the next big contract to get in good with the US Army...no matter what the cost. Yet despite everything Sarah could do, even as the leader of an organisation that not even the Chicago Police knew of, James was soon found.

He hid himself in a room, forced away by his foster mother as she made what he felt was her last stand. The secret room she had made for hiding fugitives worked like a charm. But when James heard gunshots and screams from both intruders and protector, before the rushing of feet and horrendous beatings, he feared the worst.

All he knew then, was that he was trapped in this room, with the Army ruining his life slowly and coming ever closer to break him into little pieces of experiment. James sat with his head in his knees weeping, clutching the few pieces of his childhood, or rather his attempt to build one in his later years, within his hands as his strange new mind went on its own little railways of thought, thinking about the little toys he held, small models of dragons and space pirates. Maybe it was trying to comfort him, despite mentally telling himself to stop fucking around and let him cry. But it refused to do so as it kept going on linking the pictures together, connecting dots up with words he didn't recognise but chose to ignore. He began to wish he wasn't here.

James wished to be somewhere else, far far away. He knew it never worked, not even on those films about true lives of domestic abuse that somehow you want to watch to feel better about yourself, and yet for him he tried, he was desperate for anything, he begged for something good to happen in his life, he needed this, he almost prayed with all of his heart.

It started as a tingling in his body, which he thought was him shaking with grief. But it felt...not so much muscular but rather...electrical. Like little pinpricks of sparks riding up his arms, not painful but just...tingling. His eyes dried a little as he was distracted by the light that was starting to appear.

A calm blue light that seemed to beseech to James to come towards it, almost heavenly, accompanied by a strange cool wind around his body like an invisible snake, solid and soothing, covering him within aerial coils as a rushing sound came, a sense of displacement following afterwards as the light turned brighter and brighter, soon reaching his eyes and daring to fill them with its unnatural essence as he saw nothing but light, the tingling turning more stronger as he felt his body was being pulled into a powerful darkness that suddenly swallowed the light.

**THE CHRONICLES OF FINALGAMER**

A Metroid On The Brain Is Worth Two In The Tube

_"Metroids are NOT pets."_

_Space Pirate log, Metroid Prime_

A planet can only endure so much extra-terrestrial disturbance, that it will eventually suffer and deteriorate from its unexpected visitors. One particular planet would suffer more than most others would as a result of this. Two ships were on their way, one chasing the other on a mission. A bounty mission, one of pride and resolution at any cost. But on the other side of the planet, something else appeared. A swirling light beckoning from another dimension began to open unto the planet, depositing a passenger unconscious upon soft plant-ridden ground.

To the velociraptor, sleep had not been nice to him. It felt like a forced cold sleep, a clinical necessity against his will. He had no idea why he had slept during his hiding from the Armee invading his home, but now he had found himself temporarily distracted by the strange world before him.

He opened his eyes to find himself underground, though he only knew this by the rocky ceiling above him. The floor underneath him did not help matters, hard like stone yet covered in spongy moss, a carved out room with nothing but a single statue and a creature near it.

A monkey-like body with a triangular head, ears like a rabbit and ending in a pointed white snout. It was coloured like green and white rhubarb. Hoping it wasn't hostile, James spoke gently to the little creature.

"Hello?"

It leapt back behind the statue in hesitation like a squirrel.

"No, wait, please! It's okay, I won't hurt you. I just...don't know where I am."

As if it understood this honest admittance, the creature crawled from the shadow of the statue with two others of its species, gently hopping towards him like rabbits. He made no attempt to move in case he frightened them, splayed out on his belly, the stone underneath him cool and refreshing.

"Where am I?"

He asked the creatures, hoping they could reply. They couldn't say anything and instead they began to look him over curiously, sniffing at his jeans, his bare scaled chest, a braver one attempting to sniff his snout to which the raptor stayed still for as it started to lick off the makeup revealing his purple snout marks before shaking its head and shuddering at the bad taste.

As soon as they were done investigating him, he moved gently up into a sitting position, wiping his snout clean of makeup and getting a better look of the place. He didn't know any place that had rooms like this. Making sure he wasn't hurt at all, he stood up and felt the ground firmly on his bare feet, claws gently scraping the rock sharply, the statue before him in a sitting stance, knees up, bird-like and bronze. This was definitely not anything by the Army.

Looking at the small creatures, he waved carefully to them as a matter of thanks, and walked down one way. The creatures he had met just now looked nothing like any creature he knew back home. Even the wind that breezed through the caves felt strange, different somehow. He was starting to doubt if he was even on Earth, but he thought not to jump to conclusions until he encountered more life, if any others were around. Eventually after a small walk, he encountered a door.

A strange looking door that looked like a sky-blue shield. Not wanting to risk being electrocuted by its shield, he searched around for a rock nearby to pick up and throw at it. It bounced harmlessly off the door, which replied by opening with a "Vwwwoooop" sound. He ran through the door before it closed to find himself in another area of the cave that led upwards.

_Maybe I can find a way outside_, pondered James. _That might give me a good idea on where the hell I am._

He also noticed more creatures around the shaft. One was a large flying beetle that merely flew back and forth from rock to rock. Another was some sort of heavily spiked crab that crawled around a rock with unending balance, even managing to scrabble upside down. Avoiding these two, the raptor climbed upwards with agile leaps, kicking off of the cave walls to either land or hang onto stone platforms jutting from the walls. Soon he reached the ceiling, and another passage.

His inherent raptor-like agility that he honed on the streets to alleviate boredom was useful in exploring new areas or escaping from enemies. However the walls were less smooth than the city ones which made climbing a little difficult, so he occasionally played safer and just climbed with all four limbs. Taking his time, the raptor continued along his way to the surface when he met another creature, one that was visibly hostile. A bat-like insectoid, nested on the ceiling. As soon as James passed underneath, it shrieked and tried to dive towards him.

The raptor was too fast to be hit, but only just avoided its pincer-like wings due to not being prepared for it. What he didn't expect was for it to blow up before him, smacking him with a hard piece of chitoned flesh that bruised his muzzle hard. Running from its carcass, he avoided two more of the bats with better luck as he found another blue door. Seeing as the last one didn't zap the rock, he decided to gingerly tap this one. Nothing seemed to happen. He punched the door instead and then it opened for him.

"Now what's wrong with just a door handle or something?"

He asked this to nobody as he walked through and felt the outside air embrace him. He felt relieved to taste it, as if he had been underground for a year or so. But then again, he had no idea of how long he had slept. Hoping to meet someone to talk to about this place, he kept walking.

Rain poured from above, the sky grey and cloud-ridden with thunder and lightning striking in the distance. A volatile place with weather like this made him think where he could possibly be. It was too alive a place to be Tornado Alley in the USA. Maybe he was in Europe? He had never visited the continent itself, maybe he was just clueless on the plants that grew there. As he pondered on these ideas, he saw a large rocky mountain before him. Seeing as he had no reason not to climb it and see the other side, the raptor began his ascent.

He managed to keep himself gripped to the rock face and eventually reach the top, feeling...free. He felt like an explorer in a whole new world, his mind going off a tangent and thinking of any explorers who must have felt the same as him now. Not that he knew any others at all as he went and climbed down the mountain, scaling the rocks easily with his claws.

The only thing of interest to the raptor was a large yellow spaceship, a bulky looking beast but a sign of intelligence. At last someone to ask about where he was! He wanted to head straight for it, but then considered the fact of whether the intelligence was kind or cruel. Should he risk finding out where he was at the risk of getting lasered, or keep himself safe and wander cluelessly across the land? He thought the latter would work more as he would still be wandering cluelessly across the land even if he knew where he was.

Heading back the way he came, he noticed a hole in the wall on the other side of the cavern he had climbed, as if it had been blown apart by a small bomb.

"Was that there before?"

His curiosity was intrigued when he saw the same radiant blue of the doors from before, as he jumped across the gap and headed through the hole to find an easy-going sloped pathway. It was full of large pink mushrooms and more crawling spiked bugs, with the occasional flying insect that reminded him of a tiny space fighter, wings like solid stone unmoving in its gliding up and down to go back and forth. Avoiding all of them as best he could despite a few whacks across the head, he headed through another door to find something less natural.

A winding downward stone path made out of several ledges, carved out of the stone itself, as if he was in a temple of some sort. The stones felt oddly not that cold to the touch, and little dust was around. Either creatures were quite active here, or something else. He carefully went down each ledge, down to the bottom where he found two doors on either side of him.

"Now which way to go?"

He opened each door to have a curious look at either. One was similar to the sloping path he had just navigated, and still rubbing the bump on his head from that, he decided to try the other one which was more like a laboratory entrance, a metallic hallway of several red lights leading to another door.

"...yeah let's go with this one."

He ran towards the other end quick as he could. What he found on the other side disturbed him.

Within a natural cavern, sitting in a large puddle, was a golden statue of four horrifying beasts melded into one abomination. Each one of them glowed a different colour from their eye sockets. One looked like a fat lizard with spikes from its belly, another some sort of toothy squid, with a third looking like a vicious scaly seahorse with its snout replaced by a snarling crescent jaw. The last one was some sort of skeletal dragon mounted on top of them all.

"Wh...what the fuck is this? Some kinda ancient god?"

They looked horrifying to him, nightmarish even, and he decided to leave as quickly as possible to not suffer any mental effects it might exhude. Hurrying back to the other door, he navigated along the natural path, between mushrooms and avoiding more spiky bugs, noticing some oddly pulsing globs of tiny crawling things inside them that didn't seem to bother him so he left alone. He reached a dead end soon after, nothing but pipes running across the room and a single glowing pad in the middle of the room, above a hole.

Curious, the raptor stepped onto the pad with both feet and waited, doing so for only a few seconds when the pad moved down the hole, surprising him as the hole turned less rocky and more full of plants and vines twisting through the rock. Soon, he was in a completely different area, a place very different from the caverns above. It didn't feel like a cave here, it was a thriving paradise of pure green everywhere he looked, flowers and creatures blooming and flitting about, strange chirrups filling the air with rustling and water trickling, it was like an underground rainforest.

"Woah...how does this even work?"

Wishing he'd learnt how plants work all of a sudden, he stepped off of the elevator pad and climbing downwards investigate the various doors. A few of them were of a pink colour and tapping or hitting them didn't work.

"Must be a higher security level I guess."

Clambering ever downwards, he saw one door open up and a flash of someone just entering it, something orange at the bottom of the shaft. Following immediately, he found a much different area. A pinkish tunnel of plants, the air full of spores lazily floating from the various flowers which he hoped weren't poisonous.

But he was more worried of what was standing before him. A living being. Similar height to himself, probably human, lean and looking mean in a metallic red and yellow suit. Some sort of space age knight in shining armour, a red helmet with a glowing green visor staring at the raptor, piercing into his mind. The left arm was in a finely fingered gauntlet as part of the suit, while the other had a large green cannon-like appendage at the end of it. The raptor gently asked:

"Um...hello?"

An immediate aim of the cannon towards his face made him tense up and raise his arms in the surrender position.

"WAI-WAI-WAIT, I just wanna know where I am okay!? See I kinda...well, fell asleep and woke up here for some reason, I've no idea where I am...can you help me at all?" The suited one kept the cannon aimed at him, but a few seconds later after identifying no threat from him, let the arm drop. "Thank you...all I ask is where I am, seriously...any way you can help me on that?"

It did not speak but merely beckoned a finger closer, the raptor doing so out of trust on the grounds he hadn't received a face full of laser yet. As there was about to be an explanation, something rustled nearby in the bushes. The arm cannon aimed at the direction of the noise, and was rewarded with an ambush of strange reptilian insectoid creatures, who aimed their weapons at both of them.

Feeling endangered and siding with the human by an instinct of trust, he watched the metallic warrior dodge blasts with tremendous acrobatic agility, strafing and blasting the arm cannon with rapid fire shots. Sometimes there was the occasional charged shot, a growing golden sphere of energy that slammed into the ambushers before dispersing. Not making himself too distracted, he kept an eye out for any of them who tried to catch him or the human off-guard, seeing one of them try to sneak up behind the human.

He launched himself forwards and made a flying kick to its face, a shuddering grunt rewarding him as he pummelled into the enemy's snout, raining clawed fists upon it. Making sure it wouldn't get up again, he turned around just in time to see the human escape through a door nearby.

He had been left completely alone with several bodies scorched by energy blasts, as well as the one he had just beaten to either unconsciousness or death.

"Oh...well don't bother picking me up then, for fuck's sake!"

He got up and went over to the other enemies the human had dealt with, not quite sure what to make of the strange person who seemed to be in a real hurry to be somewhere else. On closer investigation of the enemies' faces, he noted they were quite reptilian with insect-like anatomy. They had bladed arms of a praying mantis, yet the faces were reptilian certainly.

"Maybe he didn't like reptiles? Huh, racist are ya?! WELL SORRY I'M NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO EVEN FIGHT ALONGSIDE YA, FUCKING HUMAN!"

He felt rather insulted to not even get one reply from it, as he sat down on the ground confused and dejected, not paying attention to the creature he had beaten up in a panicked frenzy, who quietly fiddled with his equipment and sent out a distress signal.

"I mean it's not much to ask is it? 'hey thanks for stopping that guy from slicing my spine open, I owe ya one.' I know I'm a stranger but you can't be THAT suspicious, no matter who you are. I mean really, didn't even give me the time of day, tell me where I was...well at least a human means some civilisation.

"...maybe this IS Earth, like one of those apocalyptic movies full of Australian bikers, or those comics where you can't even have a cake without it being illegal...oh God I don't wanna be in some mutant outskirts of that kind of world, I gotta get ou-GAH!"

He was cut abruptly short in mid-sentence as he was knocked in the back of the head hard, hearing someone murmur in an alien language before fully passing out.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Plight of the Raptor

The raptor, upon awakening, found himself chained with strange energy forming chains that bound his arms and legs tightly, seeing two of the creatures he had fought previously, one on each side of him, hoisting him onto a large ship that stood sleekly on the planet surface like a mythical metallic bird at rest, the rampway opening up for his two captors as he was taken through various halls, where many other creatures like the one that accompanied him were busy with various things from guarding doors to working on experiments, all of them with insectoid bodies in terms of build and possibly anatomy, bladed arms, reptile snouts shortened within a stubby face and crooked insect-like legs. Soon he reached a more prestigious room filled with navigational equipment, the bridge littered with glowing blue and orange panels all over beeping to themselves and each other like digital hives communicating with each other.

Standing proudly on the deck was a large beast, a towering figure that looked rather like an anorexic purple dragon with a long pterodactyl beak and bony tail, wings like a demon with stretched veins along thin flesh. The captors threw the raptor forwards onto his knees and uttered their language. The leader turned with cruel intelligent eyes and sneered down upon James, speaking lowly in a strange language.

"I...sorry, what? I dunno what you're saying."

He spoke again in the same manner and James remained clueless. The leader then made a nod to one of the captors who suddenly gripped his head firmly and put a cold solid object against his head, which seemed to make pinpricks along his head like cold little needles shooting through him, making him gasp in shock before it ceased and the cold metal thing was removed.

"Can you understand me now?" said a mysterious dark voice above him.

He looked up to see the draconic leader peer down at him still.

"Um...yes?"

"Good. You just had something injected inside you to be receptive to our language, a simple nanotranslator. Now, who are you?"

The leader's voice was menacing yet calm in a strong throaty voice, his neck oddly thin but never seeming to pulsate from his speech.

"My...my name is uh...James."

"A strange name...and why are you here?"

"Iiiiiii...dunno," he chuckled nervously, really wishing he had a better reply. "I just woke up here...is this Earth?"

"Earth? Commander, find Earth on the charts."

"Yes sir," said another creature at the panels.

A holographic chart of the galaxies was laid out across the panels, slowly brought up into a three-dimensional display. One of the creatures input various amounts of data with mindless precision, screening through a myriad of stars and planets before focusing upon one.

"Earth. A planet in the Sol System, third from the sun, primary homeworld of humans."

"Atmosphere?" asked Ridley.

"78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon, carbon dioxide and trace water vapours."

"Hmmm...well then, as I am sure you have guessed by what we have just spoken of, this is not Earth, creature."

"So...where am I then?" James asked curiously.

"You are on the Planet Zebes, far far away from your planet. Do you know how you ended up here?"

"I...dunno I just felt something suck me in and shoot me through a weird...dark abyss or something, I went unconscious and then, woke up here."

He kept shifting his eyes back towards the dragon leader, nervous as hell. He really wanted to know what this thing even was.

"I see...so you do not know who we are?"

"No...I-i've never even seen anything like you before."

"And yet you are not afraid?"

"Well, I've seen weirder stuff back home."

The raptor said this with a weak chuckle, trying to break the ice. The leader did not make a smile.

"Do you not know of, say, K-2L, or of any hunters?"

"Nope, why would I?"

"Are you sure? Because if you lie to me, I will show you how difficult life can be without the capability to lie, or even speak, ever again."

"Look I said I don't know K-2 whatever or any hunters, bonehead. What's with the questions all a sudden?" A slap across the face stung him.

"Silence your impudent tongue, boy! You continue your oath after what I just say, when my scouts have seen you fighting alongside the Hunter against us?"

"Wait who...ohhh that guy in the metal suit? I was just there, I didn't know whose side I was on, I was just gonna ask him for directions and where the hell I was...um...sorry about your guys, I hope you have a good pension plan for them-"

"Enough!" barked the leader before staring coldly at the captive.

He was successful in making James shrink slightly back against the floor, as much as the chains allowed him to in the unexpected ferocity of the stare.

"For now you will be of interest to us in case you are related to our mission. Guards, take him to the brig and I shall deal with him later."

The guards saluted and took the raptor bound to the ship's prison, who was wondering now what he ended up in, as they wandered along the corridors of the ship before he was dragged into a smaller darker room totally devoid of anything, not even a window in the room.

All there was in the room were odd little indentations in the wall, like holes to root chains into. The raptor soon had the energy chains rerouted through the hooks where they made an unbreakable binding to the wall when they clasped on snugly before being left alone by the guards. He tried to clear his mind on what was going on, but everything was happening so quickly to him, being on a weird planet, fighting alongside a human, and being kidnapped by aliens. He let himself take a little nap, the only thing he could do other than stare at the walls.

Hours passed, or what felt like hours but actually was perhaps half an hour, before he heard the brig door's vacuum-like opening, the raptor looking up to see three of his captors leer at him, their eyes gleaming from the entrance.

"Awake are ya?"

They walked in lined up against the door in case their captive tried to escape even with bound energy cuffs on wrists and ankles.

"Yeah, I had a li'l nap thanks...your captain made his mind up yet?"

"Oh ho, not yet...but we have."

The tallest of them was the one who spoke, as he closed the door behind him. He smiled down on the raptor, walking closer confidently.

"Wait...we?"

"Yeah...as in, we three. See, you might have seen that there are no...females on board...and you know how they say spaceship romances never go well...right?"

"I...guess...wait."

He had an idea of what they wanted and he backed against the wall in a furious wriggling motion.

"Hey hey hey, you're not thinking what I think you're gonna do are ya?!"

"And...what would that be?"

The creature leaned down to his captive and cupped the snout in one hand softly, stroking along the neck softly.

"I...I know how this shit goes...no way in hell you're gonna rape me, you can fuck off back to your cabin and jack yerself off."

"Rape? Ohhh that's just cruel...we don't rape. Never...and you know why?"

"...you have an oddly-structured moral code?"

"No. Because..."

He then pulled out from his suit a small flask of yellow liquid, almost like honey. He opened it and gently poured the stuff onto the raptor's head.

"You can't rape the willing."

"Wh-wh-what's this stuff?"

The smell of it was somehow familiar, and it was quickly intoxicating him. His mind somehow started to lose focus and he felt more light-headed. He would barely remember what would occur for the next hour or so, but suffice to say, it would have been most unpleasant if he had been more aware of his own actions at the time. Awakening several hours later, James found himself sore and sticky on the brig floor, chained still and feeling a bit uncomfortable. He tried to think why he was sore, and then he remembered the "fun" the guards had with him. That weird stuff they poured onto him had made him beg so cheaply to them, as he wrinkled his snout up in utter digust of himself for doing such a thing.

_But then they were kinda sexy_, he thought to himself. _Oh goddamit James, don't go Stockholm Syndrome now, you got kidnapped and, well, basically raped by pirates...SPACE pirates! The worst kind, because you can't just jump out into space and swim to the nearest shore, can ya? No, not unless you got an escape pod, which is harder to steal than a lifeboat what with all the buttons and shit. You didn't want it, even if it didn't hurt...that much anyways...it's still not right. ...I gotta get out of here._

He shook his thoughts from his mind and tried to steady himself up into a more comfortable position. He should have been more upset by the fact that three space pirates had his way with him, remembering what one of the guards had let slip during the lustful moments before. But he considered two things.

1. He was feeling weirdly excited at being a captive of them, in some strange way. He had had enough excitement back home but this was more adventurous than fighting with trash can lids in the back alley with junkies. This felt more fantastical, more fictional, like a dream to him.

He never dreamed he would be on another planet, despite his world having hovercars and virtual reality for the more well-off folk. But he was used to that, that wasn't the future to him. Space was the future. Although there were colonies on other planets near Earth such as Mars and one of the moons of Jupiter, he'd never be rich enough to afford it. The only people who weren't rich on those colonies were ones born there or smuggled there, or both.

2. That odd chemical poured on him had reversed his "please no" to "oh fuck yes". At least the pirates were kind enough to change his mind into a more happier mode, he couldn't say fairer than that. They could have let him be unwilling instead and just rape him. Then again it was practically the equivalent of a viagra & rohypnol cocktail. His mind tried to tangle with this strange idea. Did he enjoy it? A part of his mind didn't want to for being used in such a way, but then they did make him willing. Even if it was by artificial means and not just the natural way, by some slow seduction and a nice meal.

As he was thinking on these two points, the door opened once more and he saw two guards enter, taking the chain off the wall, putting his jeans back on and dragging the raptor wordlessly through corridors. It was obvious he had been molested, the smell of space pirate musk all over him which the guards wrinkled their snouts at. Eventually, he was brought to a solitary door. A very strange looking one, larger than most of the other doors he had seen, marked with clawmarks all over it as if a rampant beast lived here. He was somewhat right in his assumption.

"Captain," said one of the guards, "we have the captive ready."

The voice of the captain came darkly from behind the door.

"Good, throw him into my quarters."

"A-alone?! But sir-"

"Do NOT question me, unless you'd enjoy a solid meal of Phazon!"

With shaky nods, they opened the door and threw James into the room, who landed heavily on his belly, trying to get up in his bound position.

The dark room looked like a whirlwind within a study. Except without the books. The walls were the same as all of the ship but there were frames along them. A few were of the captain himself painted in magnificent ego-stroking watercolour or photographs and snippets of news articles digitally rendered into permanent frames with titles such as _"K-2L Massacre!"_ and _"Federation Sting Fails, Ridley's Tail Deadlier!"_.

There was also a large metallic computer as a semicircular desk, which the purple dragon-thing stood in front of, dominatingly powerful at 8 feet tall with wings spreading out as soon as James' eyes locked on him, imbuing him with a fearful presence.

"So...are you enjoying your stay upon my ship, captive?"

"Would you be offended more if I just said no, or if I pretended to say yes?"

"Surprise me."

A cruel smile came from the long beak.

"Well, I would like to say, you make good beds but your food service is atrocious. Still waiting for breakfast, lunch and dinner you know, though I did get something to not star-"

He was cut off by a hefty swipe of the bony tail to the side of his head, making him fall with a yelp onto his side. As he hit the floor with a crunching groan, the face of the captain turned from a smile to a sneer instantly.

"Disrespectful little hatchling...as much as I despise your lack of respect, I am willing to make a deal."

"Wh...what deal?"

"You will call me sir when you speak to Captain Ridley, boy!"

Another tail swipe at the raptor.

"Alright alright _Captain!_" he said in a sarcastic tone.

"NOT Captain!"

Another slash of the dagger-like tip of the tail was brought unto him, as well as the smack of claws to the raptor's body.

"You are not a member of my crew and you do not deserve to be one either. You are lower than even my most newest recruit!"

The dragon space pirate picked up James by the throat and pushed him against the wall. He dragged his back against it hard as he tightened his grip, pinching a claw into the shoulderblade to make it bleed thinly.

"Now...WHAT do you say, whelp?"

"S-sir! Yes, sir!"

An almost instinctive blurt to avoid any more tail lashing.

"Good."

He threw his captive across the room, missing the desk by inches to hit against the wall and slide down behind the desk. He tried to hold back his tears from the pain he felt all over him, his back especially. But he had no time to get up before Ridley flew across the room, wings stretched out like a demon king as he leapt on top of James, bearing down on him hard with a bony beak rubbing against the cheek.

"Now...let us make a deal...and your chances of walking free away from me will be greatly improved."

"Y-yes sir."

"Tell me where the Hunter is."

"Wh-who?"

"Answer the question boy," his tone turned grating and hoarse, "Where...is...the Hunter?"

"I...I...the guy in the suit? I told you before, I don't know who he is! I just met him and your guys show up and I just...I didn't know, I'm sorry!"

"I take any action against my crew seriously, no matter what your reactions were."

He lifted up James once more before slamming him against the wall. His arm looked like bare bones with the thinnest of scaled flesh over them, yet they had a surprising strength within them.

"Where is Samus?"

"Wh-who's Samus?"

"The Hunter you eggsucking bitch, WHERE IS SHE?!"

"I-i-i-what the fuck are you talking about?!"

"You were there with her when my crew ambushed her, and you helped her escape. You are her ally and therefore I demand you to tell me her whereabouts or else!"

"O-...or else what?"

James' lips quivered in rising panic, unable to tell the captain what he wanted and having no idea of how to get out of it.

"Or else...judging by the stench of my crew on you...I will give you something far more satisfying...to myself."

Something in his tone implied that Ridley would not be so kind to use that chemical stuff his guards had used on him, so he tried rapidly to think of a way out. It was one thing back then, but this would be full-on rape, true pirate style, and he knew what they said. That old saying came to mind. In space, no one can hear you scream.

He wasn't even sure if he was off of the surface of Planet Zebes even but whatever the case, he didn't want Ridley fucking him. That skeletal pterodactyl dragon-like body rubbing against him felt creepy enough. Desperately thinking something to get out of this, he suddenly thought of something odd Ridley had said, earlier in his ranting against this Samus character.

"Wait...did you say she?"

"What?"

"You said...this um Hunter, was a she?"

"Yes..."

"Wow...totally did not see that, I thought it was a guy, I mean really, nothing obvious in that suit."

This observation threw Ridley off slightly so James took the chance.

"I mean, seriously, was wandering along, found a guy in a suit, thought to ask directions yanno?"

"And...you had no idea Samus was female?"

"I didn't even know her NAME until you told me half a minute ago! Really, I don't know anything about this place, I'm just a little raptor who got lost."

Ridley was not convinced, knowing that in his line of work, suspicion was good for his health and his career.

"I don't believe you."

"If I knew Samus was a girl, would I have kept calling her a guy when we first met?"

"If you're a very clever ally of hers yes...but to even have an ally is unusual for her."

"Why is that unusual?"

"She is a lone hunter. She has always been by herself ever since I made her alone, and then...she returns..."

He dropped James unceremoniously onto the floor, clasping his long pencil thin claws together as he stared at his framed murals of a most "illustrious" career.

"That pathetic human should be dead, should have died back in her days as a hatchling, but those peace-preaching Chozo swooped her away from the colony of K-2L to turn her into the most...castrating experience of my life. I was on my way to ruling the galaxy with perfect records of raids, massacres, wealth and an army. And right at my zenith she struck me down...I didn't even think one little human, a FEMALE human of all things, would be so much trouble, but it just proves I should have been more careful in my raiding. Ironic isn't it?"

He turned towards James, his face looking somewhat wistful.

"U-uh huh?"

"That my carelessness is leading me to my doom. Which is exactly why..."

His face turned into a snarl once more as he picked up James and threw him over the desk, walking around this time to stare down upon him.

"I am going to be more careful this time. I will not have two hunters arguing over my head. For now...I will rape you, just like I wish to do to her now. And then I will kill you...like I should have done to her long ago."

"But...b-but I don't KNOW anything about her for fuck's sake!"

"You know too much about me now, and like I said, I will not pay for my carelessness once again by creating a new enemy who walks from my clutches with revenge in his heart. Your heart will be lifeless, and your corpse will be nothing but filled with my seed as a personal reminder to myself. A reminder of always doing every objective...perfectly."

Ridley rubbed his bony hands all over his raptor captive, feeling every part of the body from the snout to the anus. It still felt a little wet still from his guards' fun from before, a cruel chuckle coming from his bent throat.

"I...I wasn't even going to say anything if you let me go, I don't CARE what you're doing here, I don't care about this Samus bitch and your fucking carelessness, I just wanna...j-just wanna go home!"

He whimpered in panic and frustration at himself, at Ridley, at Zebes, everything. His first real adventure had turned so sour before he even realised where he was. He knew of course pirates were not the nicest of characters, but he was still angered and scared at the same time about this. Ridley merely chuckled.

"I don't care. You have reminded me of why I despise that human...and I will thank you...when I fill you, and then slaughter you. Let me tell you a little secret."

He bent his beak down towards the raptor's head with a vile murmur.

"I never leave my captives alive. I was never going to let you go. Far too great a risk. But I don't kill all of them quickly. It's far more fun watching an inferior little thing like you squirm on my cock."

As he said this, he forced James' head between his legs. The raptor soon felt a bump of the bony body start to form near his snout, the scales feeling so ridged and skeletal. It made him shudder, and he only panicked, trying to wrestle his head away from the deceptively strong claws. But Ridley was not going to let him get away. What followed soon after would haunt the young strange visitor for many years of his life.

Never had he felt his body more violated in his whole life. Never had he been made into such a worthless wretched creature as Ridley had made him feel until then. All he could think of, through the pain and agony that racked through his entire body, was of home. Why had he been taken to this strange place? Why was he not back in Sarah's bar, recovering from an accident when his bike slammed into that military police cruiser?

Why was he trapped in a space pirate's ship, to become the fatal victim of their most cruel and heartless captain, a monster in his own right? He was forced to see into the wide grinning teeth, the cold yellow eyes that shined like the lights of a prison yard, and the skeletal abomination that was his body. He screamed, he cried, his body begged for mercy. But it would never come. All he could hope for was the end, which soon came within a mix of blood and tears.

Ridley panted on top of his death-sentenced prisoner with a deep hiss and a lewd lick along the head.

"And that...shall be the greatest moment of your life...which will end now...what was your name again?"

"Hhhhh...a-ah...J-james..."

"Ahhh...well...mmmph...here lies dear sweet James, under me in body, mind and death."

Ridley soon lifted his tail up to slide around his body and rub sinuously against the raptor's side. He could feel the scythelike tip slide along his victim's body, wanting to feel the sweat of fear on it before he gripped the raptor's throat, slowly crushing his windpipe. The choking came quickly as he struggled instinctively. Ridley hissed in a sick pleasure, each choking sound his captive made coincided with a tightening around his body.

"Yes...yes...I want your very last breath to be mine, just like your body was."

As he began to press the tip of his tail into James' side, making it start to bleed as he choked harder, the ship lurched around them. Ridley fell off balance but scored a shallow slash in James' belly, making him wince. But he was relieved that his captor had let his throat go, coughing violently with an almost retching sound. Whatever distraction it was, James was deeply thankful.


	3. Chapter 3 - Aquaphobia

Lying upon the floor of the captain's room, James looked up with a shiver at Ridley, who had also been thrown onto the floor. The pterodactyl-like beast shook his head with a snarl, staring around his room at the disturbance that had shaken the place.

"What now!?"

The leader got up and walked to his desk, pressing the intercom.

"Status report!"

"I-it's Samus, sir! She's found us and wrecking the labs below! ACK...SHE'S GONE THROUGH THE TUBES, SOMEONE GET IN 'EM AND BLAST THEM DRY!"

"That...filthy...hmmm..."

Ridley looked down on James, who was not bleeding too much but nevertheless scarred, and grabbed him by the neck, jeans hanging under him still crumpled around his legs. He dragged his prisoner out of the cabin and through the corridors to where Samus was last reported. By the time he had caught up with her, they were within the lower deck, nearing the cargo bay in the hull. His keen sense of smell detected her presence behind a set of large cargo doors to the storage bay.

"SAMUS!" called out Ridley defiantly, "You will be pleased to know I have a hostage here...and if you do not cease your warpath, I will kill him."

"Wh-what?!"

James had gone from prisoner to harem slave to hostage in one day, confused and violated with pains in his body. He tried to get away from Ridley, but he was too weak to even fight back.

"Now Samus...you and I realise you are not inhuman, despite your tendency to kill every moving thing in sight...almost every moving thing. What about this pathetic little alien who helped you before? Surely you will not throw his life away, not even to kill me."

Nothing was heard still, as the doors slowly opened up. Ridley kept one claw close to the raptor's throat to slit him instantly the moment he saw her. But no Samus. He carefully walked into the spacious room, keeping James close much to the raptor's disgust. He kept his senses alert, gliding into the hold and looking at every single wall space for Samus, smelling her everywhere. James, keeping an eye out for her as well to plead for help, saw no sign of her either.

But then a blasting shot came from Ridley's right side, from above. Not expecting his nemesis to shoot at the prisoner, the blast hit not only close enough to Ridley's claw to make him drop the raptor, but also into the energy cuffs. They overloaded to the point of deactivating, freeing James' arms as he immediately ran away as fast as he could with still-bound feet.

Ridley, surprised still, rolled towards the wall as the bounty hunter came out at last, clad in yellow and red armour. James kept out of the way as the human and the space dragon beast battled, exchanging cannon shots and fire blasts throughout the cargo hold. Scorch marks slowly began to cover every inch of space in the area.

She dodged with such expert athleticism, managing to strafe with such speed and forcing Ridley to turn, but he utilised the turn with his tail to slash at her body. He damaged the armour, but she was undeterred as she shot off a missile into Ridley's back, making him lurch forward in pain. He flew into the air with the momentum from the missile and reached out his talons to swoop down and slice at Samus, scoring some hits on her helmet and shoulders. Samus kept up a steady fire of cannon fire and missiles at the beast's underbelly. Eventually, Ridley was forced to overtake her and go straight for the wall, rebounding back with his limbs to fly towards Samus' back.

However, his direct course towards her was thrown off-target. Hiding beside the crates, James threw a small crate at Ridley's face, making him swerve and swoop past Samus to leave him wide open for a blast in the back. He screeched as the shots made him slam fully into the wall, his beak cracking slightly in the momentum he was making. In his moment of disorientation, the bounty hunter took the opportunity to free James of his other cuffs.

"Wow...two times for each other right?"

Samus nodded and pointed the way out to the raptor, shooting a doorway open that would lead James out of the ship.

"Wait no no no, I gotta help you against this bastard! I wanna kill him, I need revenge dammit I need to do this!"

Samus had noticed the stains from the raptor's legs, her eyes reflecting faintly in the green visor. But she still pointed out the door. The first words he heard from her were in a strong low voice:

"Leave, now. He's my enemy alone."

The voice surprised the raptor. Feminine yet powerful and full of authority. With such a command, he knew that arguing would be futile. He slowly got up, adjusting his jeans with the freedom of his limbs regained, and ran for the opened doors. He had escaped from the space pirates, leaving the Hunter to face them herself. He did not doubt her power after all he had seen and heard of her, the way they almost feared her.

Finding himself outside again, pouring down with a seemingly infinite rain, he ran across the open grounds. Puddles splattered underfoot, cold and shocked at all he had been through. Fighting alongside an armoured woman, raped by space pirates, and on a planet far far from Earth. He wanted to go back in and help her, but the look she gave him made him shiver. He didn't want to disobey the woman who would give such a look. It was the same look Sarah gave him when he'd try to argue with her on something she had no time to argue on.

It was one of the last looks he remembered seeing from her.

He ran all the way back underground, scared and alone, his breathing ragged, needing to feel the cool walls and plants to comfort him. Somewhere to be away from Ridley, away from his terrible crew.

As he reached a suitable spot that seemed far away enough, he let his adrenaline drain out at last. As the shaking of fear and exhilaration stopped, he began to weep for himself. He held his sore throat tenderly, as if ready to vomit, wanting to let the pain of his body out through his face. The raptor snivelled in shock and horror, his lower body feeling sore and filthily used.

Sobs choked up in his throat, turning into mewling howls, his skin started to shudder and shake in disgust. He had always heard of stories of rape victims, and he sympathised with them all in the briefest flash of memory. Fear and sorrow coursed through his veins at such painful degradation. He even felt ashamed at having to sit down and remind himself of the pain all over again.

Instead, he went on his knees, slowly draining out his anguish through shivering tears. When there were no more tears left in him, he felt another emotion entirely.

Anger.

It was not the first time he felt it. But it was certainly one of his most strongest.

His shaking hands turned into shaking fists, shivering lips became a vile snarl. His horror turned into outrage as he began punching at the rock walls, beating at it like hammers as he screamed at the rockface. He pounded to make them hurt, make something else in his body hurt. Something to take his mind off the pain in himself as his knuckles turned scarred from the screaming blows he rained upon the craggy walls. When they began to throb and bleed, he crumpled into a heap and curled into a foetal position, hugging his knees close, sniffling to himself.

After what felt like 20 minutes of trying to calm down amongst the soothing flora, he slowly got up with eyes as red as his lower body, and walked deeper into Zebes. Now he had various questions to ponder, questions to help him try and move on, his gait slightly crippled from the pain.

_Who the hell IS that girl_, was his first question. _How did she get so strong?! Is it that suit of hers, or does she have like years of hardened dedication and revenge?_

He never would dare think females were weaker than males, for he had known many females that destroyed entire roomfuls of males with one side of their body alone, especially in the slums he lived in. But her endurance, flexibility and precision amazed him. He had never seen anyone like that. Like a warrior.

The awe he felt for her made him forget about his misfortune more as he passed through various doors, deeper and deeper into the planet. He did his best to avoid the hostile wildlife with his own natural reflexes despite his wounds, wondering to himself about the mysterious Samus and if he could ever be like her. He had enough agility, but he lacked the force, the experience, and the precision of every attack.

_If I ever see her again_, pondered James, _I'll ask her. Simple as that, ask her_.

By the time he realised how far he had gone, he felt the ground beneath him turn wet, and the smell of fungus grew stronger than before. He opened another door to find himself in a transparent tunnel, revealing a whole world of water before his eyes. Strange fishlike beings floated past, dotted kelp plants waved listlessly in the currents, the soil sandy with a dull yellow as he traipsed through puddles that squelched underfoot.

The beasts seemed a little less friendly than the ones that found him when he first awoke on this world, eyes on stalks peering at him with primal suspicion. James decided to skirt around them and head onwards through the caverns, a little shaken still from his experience and heading onwards.

The planet seemed to have a false sense of peacefulness. While the creatures went about their lives of eating, mating and defending their territories, the battle between the space pirates and the bounty hunter was ongoing. Was this a base to them, or just a place to land on and check supplies? Whatever the case, the more he thought about them, the more angry he became.

His steps turned more stiff, more tense with a fury in him for how their captain violated him. He wanted revenge.

_Fuck Samus, I have a goddamn right to get revenge. Even if she managed to kill him, I still want the chance to kill some of his fucking crew._

He considered going back the way he came, but felt scared. Scared of two things. Ridley and Samus. Ridley for what he had done to him with strength beyond his own, and Samus for her legendary status among them. Her presence alone was enough back then to make him run with little thought, he couldn't face her again. What if she decided to get violent with him? Living his teenage life with a strong woman made him fearful of such retributions, so he decided to find another way, or perhaps even a separate pirate ship or base to smash up as payback.

James traversed the undergrowth avoiding creatures as best as he could, occasionally having to fight them. One kind hopped on two springy legs with wings fluttering across a distance. Another kind flew out of pipes to hurtle themselves at him. He punched and slashed at anything attacking him, avoiding or running from the larger beasts.

He was too angry to care about the wounds or potential infections he built up from trying to fight the creatures. He fought like he was in a playground fight, swinging his claws out at them with furious slashes. He wandered onwards, gaining a new cut or bruise with every encounter, dealing with things he'd never dealt with before. Soon he had to rest, sitting in an isolated cave in a wall, clutching his knees.

As he tried to figure out where to go, he also thought back on his home, wondering how he could possibly get back. Maybe steal a space pirate ship? Force one of them to fly him back home? He wanted to gain some of his strength back before dealing with any space pirates again.

_They must have other places around here to station themselves at_, he thought.

Heading through various doors he found mysteriously placed within the underground, the habitat turned ever more industrial. Pipes and machines replaced waterfalls and fauna, humming in the background, a whole network of tubes spreading throughout the wet sandy caverns.

"What the hell they want all these tubes for?" he said out loud.

The tubes themselves were too small to crawl through, but he did find one larger pipe with a blue door across it. Soon as he opened it, he was sucked inside into a more water-filled region, his jeans now soaked as he kept onwards. He tried his best to keep out of the water, but the quicksand effect would occasionally catch his leg. Each time it happened, which was a lot, he only became more annoyed, until around the fifth time when he roared:

"GODFUCKINGDAMMIT WHAT IS WITH THIS FUCKING CUNT PLANET!?"

Needless to say, his exploring was meeting quite the resistance just to find a way off Zebes...if there even was a way that is. More surprises came to him in the shape of water-filled rooms which made him panic and go back the way he came. But soon as he dodged back for the door to close again, nothing came out. Not even the slightest dribble. His mind overloaded with disbelief.

"Ff...fuh...WHY IS THE WATER NOT DRAINING OUT OF THE DOOR, HOW DOES THAT EVEN WORK!?"

Fury only grew within him as he tried to climb back the way he came, frustrated with the yellow watery caverns. The raptor managed to climb back up through to the same pipe he went through before it sucked him back up. Irritated by the pointless venture, he went in the opposite direction back through the tunnel which he found, only to receive a terrible surprise. It had somehow broken all of a sudden and ended up in the water. Gargling in shock, he swam to the other door and headed through, sputtering with fury.

"WHY DOES THIS PLANET HATE ME!?"

He brought his hands to his face and screamed into them to let some of his rage out, nearly crying with pure contempt for this habitat.

"I just...want to get out of heeeeere..."

And with that, he sighed heavily and went onwards, navigating through various red and green regions. Soon he was outside once again, the rain still unending.

"I am...so sick of water right now."

He wandered ever onwards through Zebes, at a loss at where to go. Luckily, perhaps, he saw some space pirates heading towards him. He quickly dodged behind a rock to see them pass by, straight towards the watery region. Following them as discreetly as he could, as well as slipping through the doors they opened so they wouldn't be alerted by their opening for him, they navigated through a secret passage. Weirdly, it felt like a ventilation shaft, the pirates crawling through as warm air blew through it.

Curious, he headed inside after they had gone through, his jeans dirtying from crawling through. But at least the air was starting to dry them as it became hotter. It certainly felt like a real vent when it turned hot enough to make the raptor sweat, but he pressed onwards until he found himself in what looked like a magma cavern. The heat boiled and made him sweat, thinking perhaps this wasn't a good idea after all. Keeping on the trail of the space pirates, one of them was eventually told to wait behind on guard as the rest went inside. Perfect opportunity for some interrogation.

James grabbed a sizeable rock and sneaked around the rocky cavern walls that glowed with heat. When he had the chance, he clubbed the pirate hard with the rock, pouncing onto his back immediately afterwards to beat him down.

"Alright, fucker, you're gonna tell me what the hell this place is, where you lot were going, and how I can get off it."

"Wh-what, you're the-"

"Never you mind who the fuck I am, tell me now or else I kill you!"

"You don't threaten a space pirate and live, punk!"

"I'll gladly be the first when I bash your head in!"

Another smack to the head broke the guard's stubby snout, spitting bright green blood from his nostrils, his eyes stinging with pain. As a final way of convincing his hostage, the raptor pushed the rock down on its neck, choking him hard.

"Well?! Spit it out bitch!"

"F-fine! FINE! You wanna leave, you have to get back to our ship. Problem is that bitch hunter's wrecked the place so we're relocating to our base underground in Norfair."

"Alright, where's your captain, he still on it?"

"He also moved down to Norfair, down to his lair. You'll never reach him with your pathetic skin, you'll burn to death if you go anywhere deeper than where we are right now!"

"Fine, that saves me a trip. Any secret way to get in your ship, like vents or so, any escape pods still used?"

"We have a few...I don't even know if they work anymore, some of us stayed behind on the ship."

"Bullshit, you must have something."

Another squeezing of the neck with the rock made the guard choke out the truth.

"G-GHHHUK-ALRIGHT! There's a vent underneath it, it's shaped like a rectangle with Emergency Output written on it! Just pull it open, now release me, you worm!"

"Oh, I don't think so."

And with that, James clubbed the space pirate to death, much to the beast's dismay as its roars turned guttural with a smash to its throat, choking from a crushed windpipe. Hopefully it was telling the truth. He returned upwards to the ship, using his memory to reach it once again, more determined by the fact that there were now less of them, as well as no Ridley. Presumably Samus was also gone, having no reason to stay there if Ridley was elsewhere.

Soon enough, he managed to reach the main pirate ship, looking in considerably worse state than before. Fires were pockmarked all over the thing. Burn marks all over the hull, with pirates running back and forth to deal with the flames, shouts of urgency from all over the place. He had forgotten the size of the beast, it looked like it could hold probably 2000 or more within it. It was practically half the height of a house. Ducking under the ship when he had the chance, hiding in its shadow, he looked around for the vent the pirate spoke about, with all the signs underneath in a strange alien language.

"Fucker said it was Emergency Output, what the shit IS this stupid-ass language they have here!?"

Eventually he found one rectangular panel with some sort of valve on it. Curiously, he turned it with his hand before it opened easily, managing to slip inside.

"No wonder Samus got inside, sheesh."

Crawling through the vents with his claws helping to climb through, he could hear muffled orders barking at everyone, ignoring them as he soldiered on to find a suitable drop point. Soon he found a perfect spot, what appeared to be a changing room judging by the rows of compartments. An idea came to him about what the pirate guard had said.

Where Ridley had gone, there would be no chance of him reaching it due to the heat. But the pirates could stand the heat. Maybe they had a suit for that, or were just able to naturally handle it. But right now he was focused on getting off of Zebes, not dealing with all of its problems.

Eventually one of the pirates came into the locker room, the raptor hiding until he was alone.

"I have to clean my suit," said the soon-to-be-assaulted pirate, "give me a minute to wash the acid off!"

And as soon as he was on his own, the raptor ambushed him and gripped him in a chokehold against the wall.

"ARGH, who are you?!"

"A very angry stranger. Now you're gonna tell me what I want to know or else I break your spine."

"You're the captive, aren't you?"

"WAS a captive. Now...where's your escape pods?"

"Wh-wh-what?!"

"I want to get off this fucking planet, now TELL ME! Where's your fucking escape pods!?"

"They were all broken in the attack! Th-the Hunter, she destroyed them to stop us escaping!"

"...you have got to be shitting me."

"I'm a scientist, I don't joke. We can't leave this planet either, even if we wanted to!"

"God...nnngh, fine, then where's your captain?!"

"He-AGH-went down into the depths of Norfair, it's where he always hides when there's trouble! But you can't go in, the lava's too hot, you'll melt!"

"Then tell me if there's a way that I can get in there without being boiled alive!"

"Like what!?"

"I dunno, some kind of protective suit or something, you're the fucking scientist!"

"Alright alright-GAK-ALRIGHT! We're naturally adept with extreme temperatures but...we were experimenting with something."

"Liiiike?"

"The Hunter's Varia Suit. It can resist heat except actual contact with lava. We were trying to mimic its design to rival her in combat, but we kept failing with the Morph Ball function. But you can still wear it like a second skin."

"You get me that suit then, I don't care about this ball thing. If it gets me in Norfair without me bursting into flames, I want it."

"Okay...but one small problem."

"What's that?"

"How are you going to get me to my lab without all the guards seeing you?"

"...fuck..."

"And you need me to open the case it's in too."

The space pirate scientist grinned at outwitting his captor, before the raptor chuckled with a look upwards.

"How about you go the same way I got in?"

The scientist looked worried as James dragged him over to the vent opening, pushing him inside much to his dismay.

"Hey stop, no!"

"Get the fuck in there now!"  
"I get claustrophobic!"

"Then the sooner you do this, the sooner you get out, now move!"

Pushing him in, James climbed in after him and threatened him onwards.

"Now you take us to your lab."

"How the hell can I figure out where to go?"

"You're the smart guy, you figure it out or else I gut you!"

Following along with the threat, the two crawled through the vents single file, the temporary captive checking each vent opening to make an approximation. Every room had a ventilation opening, but not all were connected by the same vent. Either way, they managed to reach the lab after what felt like an hour, with James breaking through first. He pulled the scientist through so he didn't escape, before holding him by the neck again.

"Now, point me over to where the suit is."

He made a weak motion over to a large metal cabinet in the corner, the raptor dragging his hostage over to it and pushing him against it.

"Open it."

Irritated by this, the scientist input a code on the keypad, a long sequence of numbers that annoyed the raptor.

_How the fuck can you memorise that_, he thought to himself before the cabinet opened and revealed its prize. For a minute it looked like Samus was standing right there, except the visor was more shaped for reptiles.

"There, here's your suit, now leave me alone and let me repair my ship!"

"Fine fine, I don't care."

He grabbed the suit and put it on as soon as possible, each piece connecting into place. The metal greaves for his feet were tight and felt weird against his claws. The left-handed gauntlet was rather tight for his claws and couldn't be properly placed, and the arm cannon felt a little weighty. And yet, he felt a certain...spring in his step when he walked, feeling oddly light despite wearing the armour. The visor over his head gave him a slightly glazed view of the world.

"Are you done yet?"

"Ohhh yes. Welp, bye now!"

And with that he clambered through the vents again, crawling out of the ship by half-remembering where the emergency exit was from the place. He fell out unceremoniously from the bottom before running off. Or rather trying to, occasionally tripping in the metallic greaves.

"Agh, fucking stupid boots!"

He noted to himself that he had to be more careful as he traversed downwards to Norfair. No doubt the pirates would be on high alert if the scientist reported on him, or they found the guard's body. But right now, he didn't care.

He tried to experiment with the suit in terms of jumping, shooting and running. Jumping felt weird since he had to rely on the suit's ability rather than his own; shooting was strangely the most natural thing in the world when he could just clench his fist somehow to power the cannon; and running...made him incredibly clumsy.

He didn't plan to be in this suit for long. The only reason he needed this was to traverse Norfair, and to confront Ridley.


	4. Chapter 4 - The End of Zebes

Time without a clock or even a calendar seemed to subvert itself to James. Every step he took felt as if a minute had slipped by him. His quest for revenge had gripped him so, possessed him, his footsteps heavy with the clunking of the imitation Varia Suit. His gait had now turned clumsier, finding problems in scaling down cliffs, but at least it had a very good fall damage resistance. The number of times he had fallen made him expect one of his legs to break at a moment's notice, and yet he only nearly sprained an ankle at the very most. The suit, while not like a second skin as the scientist said, was at least very protective.

After enough downwards travelling into Zebes, he felt the heat of Norfair begin pulsating from certain doors, following the heat like a serpent would for warmth. He passed the area where he had killed the guard, only to find him missing. No doubt he had been reported already, meaning he had to be careful in traversing the next part. James entered the hottest areas of Norfair, the heat making him sweat already in the suit, but at least he wasn't burning as he walked onwards, avoiding the lava and the multitude of creatures.

He also began practising with the arm cannon that came equipped with the suit, his only means of defence in it. His first shots were awkward and way off target, the raptor not really learning the grip of it until halfway through Norfair after the suit was well battered, as well as James within it. He scraped himself through the place, having no real clue where to go but down to the depths of Norfair as the scientist told him.

After a furious panicky time of nearly falling into lava and dodging hopping flying beasts much to his frustration and panic, he eventually reached a very deep section of Norfair where a large pool of lava laid. One tunnel stretched out before him with something purple at the end. Crawling through eagerly, he found a large stone carved in the shape of Ridley, undoubtedly his lair. Unfortunately the hole was too narrow to squeeze through to avoid the lava.

"GOD...DAMMIT I HATE THIS PLACE!"

He tried to push through and even blast the rock with arm cannon shots, but nothing worked. The stone was far too solid. Resolute in his frustration, he felt exhaustion settle in when he sat down and and tried to plan his next move. Nothing came. He wanted to sleep, his energy low, and he hadn't eaten for quite some time in what felt like days, though it must have been only half a day.

He decided to rest a while and regain his strength, but realising he couldn't due to the heat making him uncomfortable. If it wasn't for the suit he could climb across the rocky ceiling over the pit. But if he took it off, the heat would be too intense for him to handle without his scales bubbling and blackening. With no other way to go, he went back the way, only to bump into a space pirate group running his way.

"THE HUNTER! KILL HER!"

They immediately opened fire with pulse lasers upon the armoured raptor, who was hit repeatedly in not being able to dodge them quickly enough. Every move he made was clumsy and inept. When he tried to blast them or get close enough to club them with the arm cannon, they only dodged from the ineptitude of his movement in the suit. Soon he was taken down and laid on his back defeated, the pirates crowding him and keeping their guns aimed.

"So...the great Samus Aran finally falls to us."

"Hate to spoil the moment guys," said James with a knowing chuckle, "but I'm not her."

"WH-...the captive!? Wait...that suit...YOU stole our prototype! And it's RUINED!"

"It was a test drive...what can I say? I got an appointment with your boss, can I see him?"

"Oh...you'll see him alright."

They held him by the arms, hoisting his weakened body up between them.

"He was looking for you as well as the Hunter, said you had some unfulfilled business with him."

"Oh...g-godfuckit..."

He winced knowing fully well what that would be, but he was too weak to struggle as he was taken to their base via a secret passageway. A hidden scanner within a wall read their DNA, before the wall slid open and they walked inside quickly. Pitch black darkness came as they walked with visors before their faces, night vision presumably. A long claustrophobic pathway laid before the captive raptor, before they reached deeper into the heart of Zebes. The heat, even in his suit, was swelteringly uncomfortable.

"Soon as we get to our leader, we're taking our suit back and throwing you into the lava you little bitch."

"Fuck you, I hate you all and this stupid fucking planet!"

He was replied to with his helmet taken off forcefully, leaving his head exposed to the heat. The heat immediately latched onto his face and sizzled his flesh, as if he was burning inside a deep-fat fryer.

"AAAAGH, AAAGH FUCK IT BURNS! _STOP IIIIIT!_"

The helmet was placed back on again, as James mentally begged for an ice pack on his face, scales blistering on his cheeks. Soon enough they reached a control room deep within Norfair, and there stood his recent nemesis, eyes expectantly gleeful.

"AH, you have her!?"

"No sir, we found the captive. He stole our Varia prototype to come kill you."

"Ha ha ha...a most treasonous objective, but I admire such spirit. What do you have to say for yourself captive?"

"I...will fucking..._kill you._"

The raptor snarled with tightened eyes behind his visor.

"Hahaha...such hatred, so good to see that in a young lad like you. It almost makes me wish you hadn't been working for the Hunter in the first place, but don't worry...you're nobody special."

He said this with a lewd caress of the helmeted face, making James twitch in disgust at the space pirate leader touching him again.

"If you wanna rape me again, just fucking do it! I don't care as long as I get a chance out of this suit and scratch your eyes out."

"I'd prefer not to violate you in such a way down here. I don't want your guts exploding from the heat on my body, you disgusting little whore."

"Uhm sir."

The minion butted in this small wordfighting to remind his leader of something.

"The Hunter has reached Norfair already, we must prepare to fight her."

"Ugh...very well. This will be the last time I will battle that worthless human."

"What about the captive?"

"Throw him in the Metroid containment room...it would be a shame to waste his body."

James turned furious at such casual disregard, not wishing to be some personal toy for Ridley. All he wanted now was to scream at him.

"FUCKING ASSHOLE! WHY DON'T YOU KILL ME ALREADY LIKE YOU WANTED TO BEFORE!?"

"I had a change of mind. I believe it would be better to kill you slowly. First with your spirit, then with your body until you realise your only existence is to become my own personal slave. Who will eventually die from my violating you repeatedly...I think it would be a more fitting end for you. Something longer...painful...to die."

"YOU...you don't think I can escape on my own and strangle you, you BITCH?!"

"You can't do ANYTHING, boy. You can't even hurt me with your pathetic claws, you can't even use the armour you stole from us, and you couldn't even take the smart choice of any escaped captive and run. Someone as stupid as you does not deserve a quick death. Take him away and put him in the room where the Metroid was, I must prepare myself for Samus."

James was dragged through the control room to a large arena-like area. A platform over a pool of pulsatingly roasting lava, where a door stood at the bottom. He was thrown into the door, his suit still on. Glass cracked underneath him, the only other thing in the room with him being the remains of a broken container.

James tried to open the door, trying for what felt like half an hour to the best of his ability in the suit, but nothing seemed to work. Pounding on it, shooting it, headbutting it even. He had regained some of his strength from taking a breather, but even then he couldn't break the door open. After another hour, he could hear shouting and shooting from beyond the door, readying himself for anyone who came in.

He could hear a space pirate get nearer to the door, and stood to one side of it. He waited until it opened, seeing the dark alien armour before clubbing one of them relentlessly. As the creature fell with a roar, the raptor repeatedly shot him dead in the heart.

"FUCKHEAD!"

A blast was soon aimed at him, but missed as he turned to fire back. He stopped himself however upon seeing it was Samus, presumably chasing down the pirate he just killed.

"Oh, THERE you are. No fucking gratitude for saving your ass back on the ship I take it. Or before that in the ambush."

"Your suit."

Her words remained short and precise, no time to mince them.

"Yeah uh...the pirates made a copy of yours, so I stole it to get down here."

"Does it work?"

"Cannon blaster thing works, I can't do a ball thingy apparently and it's kinda clumsy for me but-"

"Shh."

A finger to her lips made James shut up for a second, before she beckoned him out of the room into the larger arena-like room. She felt a change in the air, and said:

"Ridley is here. You have to leave now."

"Woah woah woah, I am NOT going anywhere ye-"

Samus turned quickly and aimed her sleek cannon directly at the raptor.

"Get. Out."

"But I have to-"

"You only put yourself in danger. You are inexperienced. He is my enemy. Only I kill him. Leave."

"Listen bitch, I'm not leaving until he's dead and fuck your experience!"

"Then face me, both of you!"

A shadow from the darker areas of the walls began to glint menacing eyes. Ridley appeared before them, furious with wings fully out.

"This is pathetic Samus, teaming up with an amateur."

"This is between you and me, Ridley. Leave the boy out of this."

"I don't think he wants to be left out of it."

"Damn right I don't," roared James, "cuz I'm gonna FUCKING KILL YOU!"

He launched up onto the dragon's head, screaming his fury and bashing his fists as hard as he could, despite the thick bony scales. He had forgotten how strong they were to such blows, so he focused on the eye to at least disorient him. Ridley snarled and shook his head to throw the pest off, but eventually grabbed him with one hand and threatening to crush his neck.

"YOU PATHETIC LITTLE LIZARD!"

"FUCK YOU, I'M GONNA KILL YOU-_HURK!_"

He was cut off with a choking gasp as he was strangled hard, but Ridley was shot in the arm by Samus, forced to drop the raptor. James was undeterred and kept on the dragon pirate, clawing at his eye in fury. He knew the bounty hunter was way more skilled and equipped than he was, so he had an idea to give Samus an opportunity.

He tried to grab the head and pull it up to expose his neck. Ridley wrestled like a rogue stallion as the Hunter saw the opportunity given to her, blasting at the neck with a missile. The beast roared in a broken voice as he threw off his assailant.

"YOU _FOOLS!_" His voice was now hoarse in pain. "How DARE you disrepect ME! I am RIDLEY! I AM YOUR MASTER, THE MASTER OF THIS INSOLENT GALAXY! AND I WILL HANG THE BOTH OF YOU, BY YOUR PATHETIC INTESTINES, _UPON MY WINGS!_"

Samus then unleashed a torrent of weaponry at her disposal. Bombs that blasted a whole radius around themselves, forcing James to run from the explosion. Missiles of varying explosive power, as well as the odd arm cannon shot, kept Ridley well occupied and wounded. James did his best to help, but was at most ineffective in the armour.

He was knocked about repeatedly, slammed into walls and thrown onto the floor before turning too weak to fight. He soon retreated to a corner, trying to catch his breath as he could only stare at the epic battle between human and space pirate dragon thing.

Samus was ungodly in her battling prowess, leaping back and forth, walljumping to blast missiles all across Ridley's head and back. Bombs in the air scorched the pirate's scales, but he was just as challenging with his tremendous claws, whip-like tail and pure strength. The battle was hard fought and it only made James wish he was this good, cursing the armour he had to wear for surviving the heat. Even then he realised that on his own, he could never be as good as this mysterious bounty hunter. Soon however, Ridley began to burn deeply, as his body collapsed to the ground, roaring:

"You _**BITCH!**_ WHY WON'T YOU ACCEPT YOUR FATE AS MY VICTIM, SAMUS ARAN?! NOTHING CAN KILL ME, NOT EVEN THE GODS THEMSELVES!"

She aimed her arm cannon at his face with one single phrase.

"They can't...but I can."

She punctuated this with a brutal single blast to his face with a skin-charring missile blast. His last guttural sounds died away as he was finally defeated, his eye bloodied and blackened with the rest of his face. Samus had taken a heavy toll of damage in the battle, panting heavily before turning to James.

"Get up. Follow me."

Having no want to argue with her after her cold yet destructive tactical kill, she entered the room James had been in. The only thing that interested her was a small tank underneath a rock. She fitted it into her suit with a sigh of relief as a little whirring came from it, before examining the broken container. She picked up a few pieces, scanning the metal bases.

"I wonder what that held?" asked James.

"A Metroid."

Her reply was instant as she looked around the room with a strange wistful look in her eyes.

"What's a Metroid?"

"My objective, that is all you need to know. Did you happen to see a small green creature, like a jellyfish?"

"I haven't even seen anything LIKE a jellyfish at all."

"...there is nothing for me here. Follow me."

The two travelled together out of Norfair, with James relying on Samus' experience to be given a boost up through the region. He asked her gently to be at least taken out of the furnace-like caverns of Norfair, which she did with little trouble in navigation. When he felt the heat no longer on his body, finally reaching the area of Brinstar once more, he sighed with relief.

"Thank god for that...now I can take this stupid armour off."

James immediately pulled off the armour parts, with help from Samus who knew how it all worked. After placing them in a pile, she destroyed them immediately with her weaponry, turning it into twisted scrap metal.

"Woah! Uh...bit overkill isn't it?"

"I don't want them copying my armour."

"So...now what?"

"I go to Tourian to finish my objective. You leave."

"Well...I guess since Ridley's dead I got no reason to be with you. Um...thanks for...saving me...like...three times was it?"

She merely nodded, saying nothing more. James had to wonder if she was just naturally cold, or if life had turned her that way, before asking:

"I just want to leave this place now. Do you know how to?"

"You'll find a way, perhaps over there."

"Where?"

"Just over by that door."

As soon as James turned towards the direction she pointed to, she went behind and bludgeoned him with a surprisingly quick club attack of her cannon, rendering him dizzy as he moved shakily in pain.

"OW, YOU FUCKING-"

Another club silenced him into unconsciousness, collapsing onto the ground. She headed off, relieved to be free of the enthusiastic amateur alien. saying to the slowly blackening out raptor:

"By the way. Thanks to you too."

He only woke up later when a blaring siren resonated throughout the planet. Once upon a time he wondered "what is the worst thing you can wake up to?". Here and now, he got a pretty good answer in the form of:

** "WARNING. SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATED. THREE MINUTES UNTIL COMPLETE PLANETARY DESTRUCTION. PLEASE EVACUATE THE PLANET."**

"U-ungh...w-wait...Wha-what...WHAT!? WHAT!? You gotta be fucking kidding me!"

Things had gone from bad to worse. Not only did he know no way off the planet, but he was going to die if he couldn't find one at all. Remembering frantically where he had seen a ship, he remembered the yellow ship on the surface in the rain. Probably Samus' ship as the only other person around.

With panic and freedom from the suit, he leapt up the chasms of Brinstar, amongst the creatures who ignored him thankfully to tend to their own problems of immediate extinction.

He leapt like a frog on crack, scrabbling the shafts, crawling through holes before eventually reaching the thankful breaths of cool outside air upon him. The only thing that ruined it was the constant shuddering of the planet. According to the computer voice that resonated throughout the planet, he had only one minute left to evacuate. But there was a problem.

Samus had already left.

As he felt the planet tremble, he stood upon the incredibly unstable surface of Zebes. But there was no ship. He looked up to the stars, noticing them more closely with remorseful defeat in his mind. Samus was gone, the remaining space pirates, if any, were on the other side of the place, and he had no way to leave the planet soon enough as it shook with an apocalyptic fury. All he could do was gaze at the space above, far far away, wishing to be amongst the stars. He prayed for the first time in his life, with desperation, trying to console himself of his coming unorthodox death.

"Please...please god let me leave this planet. I don't care how, just let me leave, let me go to the stars, any star out there, just PLEASE..."

His mind drifted, thinking of the stars. The very word seemed to ignite in his mind. Soon, he felt a cold wind suddenly around him, a strangely familiar one as he felt his entire body shiver slightly. The wind went inside him, right inside his bones, before he saw something familiar.

A light.

A wondrous blue light, wrapping him in its cold howling embrace as he felt his eyes start to blur intensely to become consumed by darkness. It was a deep darkness, not unlike the night sky of space and beyond. He heard the rumbling collapse of Zebes turn more and more distant, the klaxon call fading into obscurity. Soon, he couldn't even think anymore, drifting into a cold sleep.


End file.
